Mark Lewis, senior EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) director of marketing and alliances at Riverbed, said: "If organisations have the right infrastructure in place, working from home can often prove to be more productive to many employees as there are less distractions.

"There are a number of technologies in place today from a number of organisations, where people can not only access remote applications and files but get access to these with ease and speed, as though they were in the same office building."

Mr Lewis was speaking in response to a survey by internet service provider Lumison which showed that 73 per cent of office workers believed they would be more productive if they worked from home.

If this trend is picked up on by employers then it could help to create more jobs with office space and technology costs for firms minimised.

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